Meeting with Palestine’s Fatah, Hamas movements to take place in Moscow on February 11-13

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. The inter-Palestine meeting with the participation of delegations from Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian movements will take place in Moscow on February 11-13, Palestine’s Ambassador to Moscow Abdel Hafiz Nofal informed TASS on Monday. "On February 11-12, meetings between Palestinian movements will be held. On February 13, a collective meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is planned," he said. "This is a Russian initiative," the ambassador continued. "The aim of the talks is to reach an inter-Palestinian reconciliation." According to Nofal, there are no separate talks between Fatah and Hamas planned in Moscow. The Fatah and Hamas Palestinian movements signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo in the autumn of 2017. The parties agreed that the National Accord Government would assume all powers over all Palestinian territories. The transfer of control over the Rafah Border Crossing on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to the West Bank authorities was due to take place as well. Later on, the factions held a few more rounds of talks in Cairo on forming the new government, organizing the elections, reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization and deploying the Palestinian administration’s forces in Gaza. However, the inter-Palestinian reconciliation process once again stalled because of constantly emerging disagreements. In December 2018, Russian Foreign Minister stated that on the outcomes of the talks with his Palestinian colleague Riyad al-Maliki, they thought it appropriate to hold a meeting with the participation of Fatah and Hamas representatives in Moscow within the framework of the inter-Palestinian dialogue. Read more